This proposal summarizes results of previous investigations and outlines additional experiments to be conducted on the development of the representational processes of encoding and storgae in very young children. The development of representation in memory and problem-solving situations is being examined and pertinent related experiential factors are also being sought. Initial experiments have demonstrated the feasibility of using habituation of attention in continuous recognition procedures and additional studies investigating perceptual and semantic interpretation using this procedure with even younger children are planned. More conventional recognition and recall tasks as well as matching and discrimination learning tasks are designed to study other encoding, interpretive, and integrative processes used by preschooler and older children. Laboratory and home observations are also included to examine potential experiential variables contributing to the growth of representation. Results of these experiments will help to further develop a model of the knowledge system of the very young child and, more specifically, to see how well the notion of a automatically-functioning spread of activation throughout a network of information stored in permanent memory will describe the young child's cognitive activity.